“But she’ll be able to protect herself.”
“Right. She’ll be strong. She can easily kill any shifter in hand-to-hand combat, even a dragon. She’s resistant to dragon magic and normal dragon fire. It’s possible that she’ll be able to use some dragon magic. You don’t have to worry about her. She’s delicate now, but you’ll spend most of your time protecting the world from her rather than the other way around.”
Kurt looked down at his hands. “All of my kids will be basilisks like yours were?”
“Your next child might be a dragon. A wyvern and a half-fae had several children. Only two were basilisks. If you wait until you’re older and your magic is mature, you’re more likely to have a dragon.”
“Will she need to live underground?”
“Does your house have a basement?”
“Yes,” Kurt said.
“If she sleeps down there with any windows blacked out, she’ll be content. The first floor is also an option, but they feel safer underground.”
“I don’t want to give you the impression that I’m disappointed in my daughter. She’s not what we expected, but she’s ours. You can’t keep her.”
“Don’t intend to. We don’t kidnap babies. Some parents like to spread rumors that we do, but that’s only because they don’t want to admit that they came to my people to give up their children. You can handle a basilisk, baby brother. I managed it. I recommend that she have contact with the basilisk community, however. She’ll need to talk to people like herself. If you keep that from her, she’ll find them herself. They always do.”
“Thank you for helping us,” Kurt said.
Wrath sensed Lily approaching the house so he asked, “Have you ever seen a shifted basilisk?”
“No.”
“Do you want to?”
“If they wouldn’t mind.”
“I know just the one. She loves showing off.”
The two dragons headed out to the front porch.
“Just so you know, there’s an 80% chance she’ll want to fight you,” Wrath said.
“A girl?” Kurt asked.
“Yep. You won’t be able to say no.”
“We’ll see about that.”
Lily came running around the house. Wrath braced himself and caught her when she threw herself into his arms.
“Hey sweetheart. Want to show Uncle Kurt your basilisk? He’s never seen one before.”
“Sure,” she said, pulling back from the embrace. She gave Kurt a once over. “What kind of dragon are you?”
“Air.”
Her eyes got big. “That’s awesome. Can I see? Do you want to fight? I’ve only ever fought Poppy, and he always lets me win. Please?”
“I don’t know if that’s…” Kurt began, but by the way his shoulders were sagging, Wrath knew she already had him.
Lily knew that too, so she went in for the kill. “Please, Uncle Kurt? No biting. We fight until one of us is pinned.”
“I mean…” Kurt began futilely.
“Please?” Lily asked, puppy dog eyes in full force.
“Alright, until one of us is pinned.”
“Yay!” Lily said, grinning and hopping up and down.
“I’ll be the ref. You need to pin your opponent for three seconds, no biting, no punctures of any kind, no magic, and no flying,” Wrath said.
~
Jess came out onto the porch with Wrath at the sound Lily’s first shriek. Wrath put his arm around her as he watched Lily coil herself into striking position. He couldn’t comment on the fight since both fighters had excellent hearing.
He wondered how his baby brother would handle the girl. It was easy to underestimate the striking distance of a basilisk. She wasn’t allowed to use her teeth, but she could lunge and coil herself around Kurt’s neck in a heartbeat. Basilisks weren’t constrictors by nature, but they learned the tactic during their sparring lessons.
Kurt watched her warily. Wrath knew what the young dragon was thinking. The sweet teenager was hustling him. The thing was, she wasn’t a skilled fighter. If Kurt wanted to overpower her, he could. Even as an air dragon, the smallest of the dragons, he was larger than her. Plus, he moved quickly on four legs and he could pin her in a multitude of ways.
He was hesitating because he’d never fought a basilisk and she was less than two decades old compared to his two centuries. He was still a baby himself in Wrath’s mind, but he was old compared to Lily.
All he had to do was keep her off his neck.
Kurt stepped forward, predicted Lily’s lunge, dodged, and then wrapped his talons just behind the base of her skull, forcing her head to the ground. He was taking it easy on her, not shifting his full weight to her neck.
Wrath began counting. Lily whipped her tail around and hit Kurt in the face. His grip loosened and she was back in the game.
She lunged again, aiming for his neck. This time, she got him. She began coiling. Kurt slipped the talons of one hand under her tightening grip. It was a risky move with a basilisk, but it was unlikely she would tighten enough to puncture herself and thus poison Kurt.
Kurt pushed up and stood on two legs. It was almost cheating. Terrified of being so far off the ground, Lily shrieked and loosened her grip, letting herself fall to the ground. Annoyed, she regrouped and lunged, this time with fangs. Kurt dodged but one fang grazed his shoulder.
Wrath was sure she wasn’t loaded with venom, but it was still cheating.
“That’s enough!” Wrath shouted, getting to his feet and striding between the combatants. “Lily, you’re disqualified. Now apologize.”
“I’m sorry,” she said softly in Akkadian.
“Apology accepted,” Kurt responded with only a mild mispronunciation. Dragons normally spoke Sumerian and only used a little Akkadian.
Jess had come up beside Wrath.
“She’s hurt,” Jess said, reaching to wipe the blood from Lily’s mouth.
Time moved in slow motion then, Wrath would swear it.
Lily, surprised by what Jess said, turned her head toward Jess. By doing so, she closed the distance between her blood and Jess’s hand. Kurt and Wrath both moved to stop Jess from touching the blood, but Wrath knew it would be too late.
It was all so
